Backlights are used to illuminate liquid crystal displays (“LCDs”). LCDs with backlights are used in small displays for cell phones and personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) as well as in large displays for computer monitors and televisions. Often, the light source for the backlight includes one or more cold cathode fluorescent lamps (“CCFLs”). The light source for the backlight can also be an incandescent light bulb, an electroluminescent panel (“ELP”), or one or more hot cathode fluorescent lamps (“HCFLs”).
The display industry is enthusiastically pursuing the use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) as the light source in backlight display technology because CCFLs have many shortcomings: For instance, CCFLs do not easily ignite in cold temperatures, they require adequate idle time to ignite, and they require delicate handling. Moreover, LEDs generally have a higher ratio of light generated to power consumed than other backlight sources. Accordingly, displays with LED backlights can consume less power than other displays, which renders LED-based displays more sustainable. LED backlighting has traditionally been used in small, inexpensive LCD panels. However, LED backlighting is becoming more common in large displays such as those installed in computers and television sets. In large displays, multiple LEDs are required to provide adequate backlight for the LCD display.
In LCD displays, electrostatic response of a plurality of pixels to applied voltages associated with data provision can vary substantially within the display locus as a result of raster mechanism employed to configure the data in each of the plurality of pixels. In particular, conventional approaches to frame-to-frame update typically cease display, e.g., backlight unit is turned off for frames or sub-frames that are newly update and expected not to have settled a voltage associated with supplied data. Such black-out can cause image artifacts and can limit utilization of at least a portion of pixels in the plurality of pixels comprising the LCD display, with ensuing operation inefficiency thereof.